A delegation of senior officials from over 30 Dubai government entities are in the United States last week as part of Dubai 10X’s inaugural outreach trip to Silicon Valley.

The delegation is meeting with top tier disruptive companies to gain insight and exchange ideas on best practices for implementing ground breaking innovation .

Dubai 10X is an initiative of the Dubai Future Foundation under the directives from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai and Dubai Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum who have called on all Dubai Government entities to embrace disruptive innovation and to seek new ways of incorporating innovation in their work. The purpose of the 10X program is to transform the government to be 10 times faster, 10 times bolder, and 10 times more creative.

Innovation is being incorporated across all UAE sectors to reimagine how services can be provided that better empower citizens and residents, especially youth.

In a recent speech at a Majlis for Future Generations, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces said, “youth need to be better prepared for the post oil era”. His Highness has been at the forefront in setting the vision for the UAE becoming the innovation hub of the region.

Launched at the 5th World Government Summit in 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Dubai 10X seeks to establish “X Labs” in every government entity, with the goal of consistently positioning Dubai 10 years ahead of other cities around the world in technology, government services, health care, education and more.

In a recent interview discussing UAE’s push to become a leader and a global innovation hub, His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi, UAE Minister for Cabinet Affairs and the Future, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Managing Director of the Dubai Future Foundation said, “The business of government is to unlock human potential”. On how UAE is connecting disruptive companies with UAE entities through programs like Dubai 10X and Dubai Future Accelerators, His Excellency continued, “We are eagerly reaching out to build bridges between global thought leaders and technology companies in Silicon Valley and our country’s innovation task force for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices”.

Dubai Future Accelerators, managed by the Dubai Future Foundation is a 12 week program that brings together companies and government agencies in Dubai to explore technologies of the future, and implement them to find viable long-term solutions to every day challenges.

The Dubai 10X outreach trip to California led by the Dubai Future Foundation in coordination with the embassy of United Arab Emirates in Washington, DC under the guidance of His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States and the Ambassador’s Senior Advisor on Innovation, Ruba Al Hassan.

Highlighting the positive impact of innovation focused outreach trips and partnerships, Ambassador Al Otaiba said, “Initiatives like Dubai 10X, Dubai Future Foundation and MASDAR are designed to build bridges between the best technology companies in the world – many of which are in the United States – and our UAE government departments. Our country has become the best platform for disruptive technology and ideas that overlap with regulations and policies to advance innovation”.

Senior Innovation Advisor Ruba Al Hassan reinforcing the success of the Dubai 10X trip to California said, “What we have seen in our visits and interaction in the US is that American technology companies are more and more interested to come to the UAE to partner with our government to test new technology and become part of this great vision that His Highness Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid has to accelerate the Future”.

The delegation has been meeting with and participating in hands-on workshops with leading innovative companies in Silicon Valley such as Google, UBER, Airbus Labs, Autodesk and many others throughout last week.